The Thomases didn't like Gabe, and Tina knew it. One of Tina's friends told investigators Tina's family never liked any of her boyfriends. When investigators later asked a co-worker, Debra Glenn Barnes, if Tina had discussed her relationship, Barnes told police: "The only thing she ever told me was that her parents didn't really care for him. She said, 'They're not greatly happy with him, but you know,' she said, 'I love him.'"

Greer said the subject was broached in the counseling. Tina told him she was in therapy over family issues. At one point, the Watsons said, Tina asked them if they would pay for the wedding if her parents didn't.

"In my opinion, it was Tina's first attempt to do what she wanted to do and they didn't like Gabe," Greer said. "Tina at times used Gabe as an excuse not to do things with her family and she was up front about that. Gabe didn't mind; he saw himself as her protector."

Newlyweds Gabe and Tina Watson spent a week sightseeing in Australia before a fateful dive. They visited the Sydney Opera House for a play and took a cruise on the river. Here, the Watsons were at the zoo to see koala bears. (Townsville Bulletin)

The scuba trip was initially to be Gabe's graduation gift. It was Tina's idea, Glenda Watson said, to make it their honeymoon. Tina wanted to see the migrating sea turtles. Since Gabe was an avid diver, and Tina a novice, they stretched the trip into two weeks, visiting the Sydney Opera House, a river cruise and a trip to the zoo to see the koala bears.

David Watson and Gabe's grandmother paid for the $10,000 honeymoon.

It was a happy time, but not without strain. By many accounts, the tension from Tina's parents' unhappiness over her marriage to Gabe peaked at the rehearsal dinner. "I had done about 30 or 40 weddings at that time and it was the worst rehearsal I've ever seen," Greer said. "Everybody was on pins and needles. Tina especially."

The wedding, however, went off without a hitch.

"We've done a lot of weddings and we've stayed in touch with some of the couples," Greer said, "but we really felt like we would have had a real bond with Gabe and Tina."

The honeymoon

The newlyweds left home Oct. 13, 2003, and arrived in Australia on Oct. 15. They spent a week sightseeing in Australia before they began their week-long diving excursion off the coast of Townsville. They were aboard the Spoilsport, a 4 1/2-star luxury resort on water. There were 25 passengers, 12 crew members and three commercial divers aboard.

About 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 22, according to the death report, the two entered the water as dive buddies, a system used in scuba diving where divers are presumed to have responsibility for each other, monitoring each other and staying close enough to help in case of an emergency.

Records and testimony from later court proceedings listed the only adverse condition that day as a strong current.

Not long after, something went terribly wrong.

First, Gabe's dive computer alarm activated, signaling something was wrong with his computer. He later said he had the batteries in backwards, and a short time later they returned to the water via a dinghy that took them to the actual dive site. There were four other divers in the dinghy with them, including the dive coordinator, Wade Singleton, according to the Queensland, Australia, police report.

At a depth of 45 feet, Tina signaled to Gabe that she wanted to surface. As they both began swimming against the current toward the dive boat, Tina became fatigued and Gabe began to tow her, the death report states. Gabe told police he tried to inflate her buoyancy control device but it didn't function.

She then knocked off his mask and regulator. He let go to replace it, and she began to sink. He started to go after her, but then realized there was nothing he could do and swam for help instead, Gabe told police.

Singleton, nearby, swam to her and darted to the surface with her, the police report said. He broke the surface closer to a different dive boat and took her aboard. CPR was performed for 41 minutes.

Tina was pronounced dead at 11:21 by two doctors aboard the boat, the fourth American to die in north or central Queensland waters over a 12-month period.

An autopsy later showed the only injuries to Tina were bruises from the resuscitation attempt and an air embolism that likely occurred during her rescue ascent.

It was about 6 a.m. in Birmingham when Gabe's family received the call. Gabe told his father that Tina had drowned. "The rest of the conversation was just a blur," David Watson said.

They called Tina's father on his cell phone. Tommy Thomas, out of town on business, said he would hurry home and asked them to wait before notifying the rest of the family, David Watson said.

Gabe's mother was on a flight to Australia that day. She went to her son at a local hotel, where a counselor from the dive company was with Gabe. It was a struggle to stay strong.

"I knew if I cried, he would be lost forever," his mom said. "And he felt like he had to stay strong for me."

They visited Tina several times at the morgue, where she was kept in a hospital-like bed as is the culture there.

Gabe, she said, was a "walking zombie."

"He could talk to you, but I don't think he was aware of a lot of things," she said. "He said, 'I don't really know what it means to lose a wife because she was only my wife for 11 days,'" his mother said. "'But as far as losing the other of half of me, my soulmate, I do.'"

It was several weeks before they could leave Australia. When they got back to Alabama, the families met and planned to hold the service for Tina at Southern Heritage funeral home with Greer and his wife again presiding. Again, the tension was so high funeral directors opened two parlors for the separate families.

Greer said it was clear the Thomases were upset.

"When I said she slipped away from Gabe, her mother said, 'I would have never left my daughter,'" Greer said.

Gabe hung back at the funeral, Greer said. "He said, 'I have had three weeks with Tina. This is for everybody else,'" Greer said. "He tried not to intrude on their grief. He knew how they felt about him."

After the funeral, there was little contact between the two families. A power struggle over Tina's estate ensued and there were other battles, including over Tina's grave. Gabe moved Tina's body to a bigger plot shortly after the burial and police at one point videotaped Gabe using bolt-cutters to remove flowers from the site. Gabe's mother said someone repeatedly stole angel ornaments she had placed on the grave.

Gabe, those close to him said, was in a fog. He holed up in his parents house for a couple of months before finally returning to the house he was to share with Tina. His brother joined him.

"He didn't drink, date, party, go on trips, spend money," his mother said. "He came back and started working on paying off her debt. That was just the kind of kid he was."

Gabe joined a support group and continued to grieve.

"He never smiled, he never laughed," his father said. "He would come to the office, but to say he was involved or participating? No. At some point, he began to hear the talk."

Family friend and attorney Bob Austin, a former Hoover city councilman, guided the Watson family through legal issues following Tina's death.

"I must say, as soon as I heard the story, I knew there was going to be somebody saying he didn't do the right thing," Austin said. "But if the Thomases hadn't pressed this, the Australians wouldn't have."

Global inquiries

The Thomases did press it. In 2004, the longtime Helena residents contacted Helena police for help in finding answers in Tina's death.

In April 2006, the family and Helena police went public with their concerns. They believed foul play was involved and started to share their suspicions and their feelings for Gabe nationwide.

"I have no doubt the Thomases believe everything they say," Greer said. "I see this as vindictive grief. Somebody has to pay for what happened."

The Watsons feared an uphill battle, especially when they saw a letter by the Townsville coroner quoted in an Australian newspaper urging detectives to further investigate the death.

"Unless there is some decision on the matter soon, the father will generate considerable publicity over the perceived lack of action over the death of his daughter," wrote Glascow, the coroner. "(This lack of action) will by implication reflect badly on the office of the coroner and on Queensland police. You will gather from my comments that I am concerned this matter has real potential for political embarrassment of major nature."

The probe intensified and included a dive re-enactment. One year later, FBI agents and local officers searched Gabe and Tina's Hoover home, taking with them a computer and documents.

Gabe was just starting to seem normal again.

"He was starting to be a part of society again when they showed up at 6 a.m. with a search warrant," Glenda Watson said. " It literally just threw him. He was right back where he started."

By then, Gabe had starting dating someone introduced to him by a former girlfriend. Gabe and Kim, two years his junior and also a Hoover High graduate, talked for hours on the phone before meeting.

"She says by the time they met, she knew virtually everything that had transpired," David Watson said.

That same year, The dive company, Mike Ball Dive Expeditions, was fined $6,500 under the Workplace Health and Safety Act of 1995 for failing to comply with its own safety procedures. Records show there was a current running at the site and that the dive Tina was taking was difficult for her level of experience. No orientation dive was conducted and the diver was not supervised in the water by a qualified worker. Records also show Tina declined the orientation dive.

In November 2007, Australia launched a coronial inquest, similar to an American grand jury but conducted by the coroner to determine how someone died.

More than 65 witnesses from around the world gave testimony in person or by telephone. Gabe did not attend or testify.

The mistruths that emerged throughout the investigation were many, the Watsons said.

"Every time a door is opened, a door is closed," she said. "But every time something came out, like the $1 million life insurance policy, no one went back and said it was proven there wasn't any."

Gabe and Tina Watson carefully planned a dream honeymoon in Australia, but the trip turned into tragedy just 11 days into their marriage. (Special)

In some reports the reported insurance "payout" was $1 million. Tina's mother told the media the family was working to prevent "a very large payout." Tina's father told investigators that Gabe had asked Tina to raise her work policy to the maximum amount and to make him the beneficiary instead of her father. He said he told her to tell Gabe that it had been taken care of.

Record's show Tina's life insurance policy at Parisian was $30,000 and her father received the only payout.

At the inquest, prosecutors admitted they found no evidence of recently purchased life insurance. In fact, Mark Hughes of O.M. Hughes Insurance, who had drafted quotes for $250,000 policies for Gabe and Tina provided investigators his notations of his conversations with Gabe.

One of those notations, dated Sept. 8, 2003, read: "Gabe wants to take a look at life insurance after the wedding. Touch base in early December."

Investigators in 2007 questioned several of Tina's co-workers and supervisors, who told them she had said nothing about insurance prior to the wedding. After her death, they said, Tina's father called inquiring about benefits, and Gabe went to the store asking about her personal belongings and some insurance matters.

Family friend and attorney Bob Austin said he met with Gabe about a month after Tina's death to probate Tina's estate and suggested the visit to Parisian.

"It was up to him to marshal her assets," Austin said.

Austin said Tina had student loans and credit card debt. "Gabe already had taken on $12,000 of her debt on his credit card because, with her debt-to-income ratio, she wouldn't qualify for the mortgage."

The two had bought a house with a down payment provided by the Watsons.

Austin said Tina had about $3,000 in assets in her estate, including her bank account, wedding band set and her dive equipment, which is still in Australia. The estate still remains unsettled because of a fight between Gabe and Tina's father over who is executor. "Gabe spent almost $5,000 on the funeral," Austin said. "He would get less than he spent if he ends up with the estate. It was an insolvent estate."

Gabe did file a claim for the trip insurance, but later dropped it because of the ongoing criminal probe.

"To think somebody would kill somebody for $30,000 when they had just taken on $12,000 of their debt and spent $10,000 on a honeymoon trip, the logic just escapes me," Austin said.

Queensland Police Sgt. Gary Campbell said he found Tina's father's assertions concerning, combined with the fact that Watson inquired about the insurance with Parisian after her death.

Witness account

There were other accounts with which Gabe's family took issue.

Reports also circulated that a witness, Dr. Stanley Stutz, a doctor who was diving from a separate boat but in the same location, reported seeing Gabe and Tina in a "bear hug" just before Tina sank to the ocean floor. That fueled speculation that Gabe turned off Tina's air tank, held her until her death, then turned the air back on before letting her go. Some reports even falsely listed that as the cause of death.

According to the coroner's report, the pathologist listed the cause of death as drowning. No other detail was given.

In his testimony, Stutz said when he first saw Tina, she was in distress. She was facing up and thrashing her arms and legs, none of which is normal for a diver. He said she looked afraid.

"And I thought, wow, that something terrible might happen," Stutz said. He said he saw other divers in the area, within about 10 feet, and hoped "somebody could save her."

Another diver then came into the picture, he said.

"I can tell there was something wrong with her before he got to her," he testified. "My perspective was that he was helping her."

He said that diver, later identified as Gabe, embraced her under the armpits like he was trying to bring her to the surface.

Something happened, Stutz said, and they separated.

"I didn't know what it was at the time, but just watching what I had in front of us, that maybe, I don't know, maybe she'd pulled (the) regulator out of his mouth, or kneed him in the groin. They split apart. He went to the surface. I assumed to find help."

Stutz said he saw another diver go straight down to her. It was anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute later.

It was that diver, later identified as Wade Singleton, that Stutz described being in a "bear hug" with Tina.

Gabe's family and lawyers also questioned reports that Gabe took a "leisurely" ascent.

At the inquest, under questioning by Gabe's lawyer, Stutz testified it was at a faster rate that one would normally ascend. Two other witnesses, a dive instructor and the pilot of an inflatable boat used to ferry passengers, both testified that Gabe came out of the water at an explosive rate and described him up to his rib cage.

Still, after the inquest's conclusion in January 2008, Glasgow ruled Gabe should stand trial for the murder of his wife.

The coroner cited inconsistencies in Gabe's interviews with police, and the claims of Tina's father about the insurance as reasons for his decision.

He also said he excluded the possibility, presented by Gabe's attorneys, that Tina's death was accidentally cause by an arrhythmia, obstruction caused by vomiting, laryngoaspasm or anxiety and panic.

In short, coroner Glascow said, "a properly instructed jury could make a finding of guilt against David Gabriel Watson on a charge of murder."

The Watsons weren't surprised.

"Remember now, for the three or four years prior, through the newspapers, the blogs, the Thomases, he had been called every vile, vulgar, vicious name you can imagine," David Watson said. "At this point, he had already come to the conclusion that the entire world was against him."

In August 2008, Gabe and Kim, a seventh-grade teacher, were married. Though tabloids touted a "lavish" wedding in which Gabe had married a Tina-look-alike, the Watsons said there were only about eight people at the ceremony in which they wore street clothes out of respect to Tina's memory. They held a reception weeks later.

"We already knew that there was a real potential that he would be going back to Australia," David Watson said. "She went in with her eyes wide open."

Back to Australia for trial

The family retained attorneys in Australia and began to prepare for a trial.

By January 2009, Gabe had decided to return to Australia voluntarily.

"Much to his credit, and I love him for it, he said, 'let's just go deal with this,'" his father said.

In May, Gabe boarded a plane to Australia after a six-week process of preparing a criminal justice visa.

"He insisted on going by himself. "He said, 'I don't want anybody crying, everything will be fine,'" his father said.

"He left America with an outstanding murder indictment," his father said. "He left here fully expecting to stand trial for murder."

But the following month, Gabe pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Brisbane Supreme Court, admitting to not fulfilling his obligation as a diving buddy to his wife. He pleaded not guilty to murder.

Prosecutors had asked for a five-year sentence with a minimum of 18 months in prison. Instead, the judge sentenced Gabe to four years, with three years suspended.

The primary judge, Justice Peter Lyons, noted that Gabe "failed to make any reasonable attempt to take the deceased to the surface. I therefore accept that you are guilty of a very serious departure from the standard of care which was incumbent upon you with the result that your conduct is deserving of criminal punishment."

The judge noted that Gabe voluntarily returned to Australia, which he said was significant because Gabe didn't know that he wouldn't be charged with murder. He also cited Gabe's acknowledgment that he was guilty of manslaughter. "You do not seek to pretend that your actions were other than what they were," Judge Lyons wrote.

The judge spoke about the delay of prosecution, and said he gave that weight.

"I consider that burden has been increased by the very extensive publicity which these events have occasioned. I also accept that in that period you have been subject to accusations of matter of which you are not guilty."

The sentence outraged Tina's family and investigators. Queensland Attorney General Cameron Dick called the ruling "manifestly inadequate" and filed an appeal in the Queensland Court of Appeals. Alabama Attorney General King also jumped into the fight, sending a legal brief to Australian prosecutors that said Tina's life was worth more than 12 months. "Levying a 12-month suspended sentence on Watson sends a terrible message to foreigners: 'If you desire to kill your spouse, Queensland should be your homicide destination,'" King wrote.

'Stupidity ... rather than wickedness'

In September 2009, an Australian court of appeals added six months to Gabe's prison time.

The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland in his order, on behalf of the three-judge panel, said that had Gabe not pleaded guilty but rather been convicted of manslaughter by a jury, a more lengthy prison time would have been appropriate. Paul de Jersey noted that Gabe was not just negligent but criminally negligent, and said a 12-month sentence was "plainly unacceptable."

One of the justices wanted to dismiss the appeal; the third supported 18 months behind bars. The chief justice met them in the middle with his ruling.

"Stupidity is revealed rather than wickedness. Malice is nowhere to be found," Justice John Muir wrote. "In this respect, the case must be less seriously regarded than the ordinary domestic killings where there is a distinct intention to harm, albeit a fleeting one, which may have been provoked by the injured party."

A judge in Australia called Gabe Watson's action to go for help rather than stay with his wife, Tina, a "flawed decision." However, he said, Gabe "had no intention of harming his wife." (Special)Muir called Gabe's action to go for help rather than stay with his wife a "flawed decision." However, he said, Gabe "had no intention of harming his wife. He did help her initially. His reprehensible decision to swim for assistance was made in a hostile environment when he was under stress."

Justice Richard Chesterman noted inconsistencies in Gabe's statements. "Given the circumstances in which the accounts were given and the respondent's evident and understandable distress at this wife's death, I do not attach the same significance to the inconsistencies as did the prosecutor. To some extent the accounts deal with different aspects of the dive. One can ascertain from them an understanding of the respondent's omission."

Chesterman said he shared skepticism with others of Gabe's initial account that he panicked.

"It is, I think, likely that the respondent left his wife because when confronted with a novel, difficult and dangerous situation, he lacked the qualities of character, and the skills to deal with it. Such failures are not usually a reason for retribution."

Also, he wrote, "The case was widely publicized and the respondent wrongly accused in the public eye of murder."

Alabama's attorney general disagrees.

King has been in negotiations with Australia for months to get evidence from the case. The Australian government has refused until the death penalty is off the table. Under the Australian Extradition Act, a person cannot be deported to face prosecution for an offense which carries the death penalty, unless the requesting country gives Australia an undertaking that the death penalty will not be imposed or if imposed will not be carried out.

"I think it's wrong for the Australian government to water down Alabama's justice system the way they watered it down there," King said.

King said Alabama would have jurisdiction if he can prove a crime started here. He also said he can seek capital charges if he can prove money or kidnapping was involved.

The attorney general said he's not concerned with the opinions issued by the Australian judges.

"I think that's what they had to stay to prop up the sentence and make this a fair resolution," he said. "I think the judges toed the company line that this wasn't malicious."

"I think we were aware the Thomases and Troy King were conspiring, but I'm not sure I appreciated the significance at that time," David Watson said. "I was still under the impression he would come home and we would begin to put our lives back together. It's scary."

Gabe's attorneys told the family early on to keep mum and let the system work.

"I'd be reluctant to go against our attorneys, but in my heart I think, had we been just as vocal and just as outspoken, had we made the Jerry Springer Show and all that years ago, would it have changed anything?" David Watson said. "We really felt like we were giving Tina a measure of respect by not engaging in this."

Friends describe Gabe as laid back and slow to anger.

"Never in a million years would anybody who knows Gabe think he did this," Youngblood said.

"There's never been a doubt in my mind that this was anything other than an accident," Bearden said. "Gabe had a boat, a lake house. He was not in need of money. He had investments. He was making better than the average Joe, and he never cared about money."

The financial impact on the family has been astounding, reaching into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The emotional toll has been higher.

"There's not an hour of the day that I don't think about it," David Watson said.

The Watsons believe Gabe has paid. Dearly.

"He was not found guilty of murder. Any blame has been paid for," his mother said. "His whole life has been in upheaval. His name has been slandered. His whole personality has been on public display, and it has not been accurate."

Gabe's mother and his wife went to visit him in November 2009.

"I was really afraid of what I would see," Glenda Watson said. "I was afraid of seeing a dead-panned stare. But I looked in his eyes and the twinkle was still there."

Kim and Gabe talk once a week. Family and friends write and send cards often.

"I think Gabe has probably matured beyond his years now," his mother said. "He is being a role model for the younger guys. He's helping people get their GED, he keeps busy."

As for the future, Glenda Watson said, "I see him coming back and wanting to do something for the good of others."

His father's hope?

"I want nothing more than for Gabe to come back to Birmingham, salvage his reputation and get on with his life."